When the Commonwealth Club introduced Rashad Robinson for a July 29 conversation at its Toni Rembe Auditorium in San Francisco, the organization framed his career in a single paragraph that spans more than twenty years of organizing, according to the event’s program notes. The description called him a social justice leader and strategist who has worked on LGBTQ rights and racial justice initiatives and confronted technology companies, the criminal justice system and political and corporate leadership.
That summary lines up with the account Robinson gives in his own book, “From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win,” released July 28 through One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Robinson spent five years directing advocacy and programmatic work at GLAAD during a period of major fights over federal LGBT rights legislation, then led Color Of Change for nearly 14 years, building it from a small operation into one of the nation’s largest racial justice organizations.
The Commonwealth Club’s notes also referenced Robinson’s role helping organize resistance efforts after the 2016 election, work the organization credited alongside his continued advising of leaders on effective advocacy. Greg Dalton, vice president of Commonwealth Club World Affairs, guided the July 29 conversation, which the organization recorded for members unable to attend the Embarcadero venue in person.
Robinson’s San Francisco appearance sat inside a wider circuit of conversations built around the same book. He discussed related ideas in a July “Freedom Table” episode hosted by Alicia Garza, and traced the roots of his approach to power back to his childhood in coverage centered on his Long Island hometown. Robinson and his team continue to advise foundations and movement organizations on applying the same organizing principles beyond the tour itself, translating two decades of campaign experience into tools other organizers can use directly.